Better Conversations supports journey towards moving more

By GM Moving | 26 February 2024 | TAGS: people and leadership, Local Pilot

Conversations about movement and physical activity happen daily and a GM Moving, Manchester and Trafford Local Care Organisation, and Collaborate Out Loud event last week looked at how to maximise these regular interactions.

Over the past year, 10 Better Conversations training sessions with 76 people from 30 organisations have taken place with learnings and reflections to date shared with a full room at Friends Meeting House.

The co-designed training is part of GM Moving’s ambition to realise the power and potential of a movement of people who can inspire, engage, and support everyone to live more active lives.

A key component of this is non-medical staff who may struggle to have high-quality conversations about movement and physical activity with people with long-term medical conditions.

Collaborate Out Loud were funded by GM Moving via National Lottery funding awarded by Sport England to co-design and deliver support for non-medical/community-facing staff to have these better conversations.

After an initial research period, and engagement with potential attendees, a steering group developed a prototype session for better conversations with people who have long-term conditions on movement and physical activity.

After testing and further feedback, the training was rolled out across the two Greater Manchester boroughs covering motivational interviewing, self-determination theory and active listening.

Angela Savory, Community Engagement Manager at Manchester Mind, said:

“I really liked the training and the fact it was weight-neutral. The training focused on what people are interested in and what people can do, it was person-centred and that’s really important.

“It didn’t impose an agenda and I liked the focus on movement not exercise as for some people just getting out of bed is everything. It gave me more confidence.

“It’s a small thing the way you talk to people but it’s a huge thing as well.”

Claire Tomkinson, Strategic Lead - People and Leadership at GM Moving, added:

“I was delighted to have so many people in the room which goes to show just how valuable the ability and skills to have these vital conversations is to our workforce across Greater Manchester.

“There’s so many routes to moving more, the health service, leisure services, VCSE groups, we wanted to use this training to support everyone to use language that motivates and inspires.”

GM Moving will be sharing online resources and videos via the Resource Hub soon with phase two of the training planned for later in 2024. For information, contact Claire.